A Phoenix, A Rose and A Leaf
by FaberryGleek4Ever
Summary: By definition a Phoenix is a person or thing of unsurpassed excellence or beauty; a paragon. A Rose is a beauteous creation bringing light and joy to those who come by one. A Leaf is an ordinary being with a blade-like approach, sharp attacks. When all three meet in the flurry of high school, their worlds and those around them are turned upside down. Kitty/OC, Marley/OC, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This idea literally came to me yesterday and I instantly started writing it. The central characters are my OC named Phoenix, Kitty and Marley with side characters of Bobby Surette, Jake Puckerman and Sam Evans with some surprising guest appearances. To those who're still waiting on my other stories, have faith, I'm still working on them... very slowly though. But still... faith. Also, apologies for any typos and whatnot. The second chapter's also being written now.

Remember to tell me what you think! I love reviews!

Pairings: Marley/OC, Kitty/OC, etc.

Word Count: 4, 289

Rating: T (May change as the story progresses)

**Chapter 1**

Phoenix Kovač slowly began to wake, a yawn escaping her lips as she grumbled, wrapping the duvet further around her body, soaking up the heat. Her room was dimly lit, the faint glow of the rising sun peeking through the curtains and illuminating her electric guitar resting up against the wall in a far corner.

The sound of footsteps soon came into her range of hearing, and groaned. A second later and her door slammed open and she turned over, pressing her face into her pillows.

"PHE! WAKE UP!" Her younger eleven year old brother, Eric hollered before sprinting away again.

Muttering angrily she rolled out of bed (literally), falling to the floor with a loud thud. Groggily she stood up, stretching out with a yawn. She tried running her fingers through her dark brown hair, but kept getting stuck in the knots. She glanced at her bed side radio, seeing the time was 6:00… Why'd she have to get up so freaking early?

Grabbing a pair of shorts from the floor she pulled them on before taking her oversized shirt off and putting on a bra. Pulling the shirt back over her head she headed out of her room, growling slightly as she covered her eyes from the bright lights. God she hated mornings.

She passed countless amounts of photos as she walked down the hall, all of her family. She stopped at one in particular of her grandmother who she called baba, the Croatian term. Her baba was sitting at a table next to Phoenix as they smiled up at the camera. She smiled fondly at the memory. She loved her baba more than anything.

Sighing she moved away and turned the corner before heading downstairs. She missed her home, New Zealand, more than anything in the world. She wished they could move back there, but knew her family couldn't. Her father had been offered a great job in America, here in Lima, Ohio, and apparently he couldn't pass it up. He was an environmentalist, and though she couldn't see how Lima could offer him a job in relations to that, she couldn't exactly change anything.

She shook the thoughts out of her head, yawning as she walked into the average sized dining room, seeing pancakes already on the table, Eric with three large ones on his plate as he scoffed them down. She wrinkled her nose, not understanding how he could fit so much in his mouth.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before glancing into the kitchen, smiling when she saw her mother bringing over some drinks. She was dressed in her usual blue and white dressing gown and her bob styled blonde hair was bouncing up and down against her shoulders.

"Morning mum." Phoenix greeted her as she took a seat.

Anya smiled, placing the banana smoothies on the table. "Good morning Phe, have a good sleep?" She questioned as she gave Eric his.

"I would've if I didn't have to wake up so early." She replied, placing a pancake onto her plate and dousing it in maple syrup. Picking up the knife and fork she began cutting the food.

"Well, you have to unless you don't want to make it to school on time."

"Are you saying I can go back to sleep?" Phoenix asked, a grin playing on her lips.

Her mother rolled her eyes before chuckling. "Ha ha, very funny." She replied back sarcastically before taking a seat at the table, across from her. "You know, you should be more excited, it's your second week of high school of course, and so far things seem like they're going good."

Phoenix scoffed half-heartedly. "Me… excited… for school? Are you high?"

"How can she be high? She's sitting in the seat." Eric interrupted and Phoenix looked at him, eyes widening at the sight of him. He had maple syrup dribbling down his chin, and chocolate syrup covering his face.

"Not only are you dumb, but you look like you've just been rubbing your face in your food this entire time." She replied. "Ow!" She yelled, feeling him kick her hard in the leg.

"I'm not dumb! I'm special! Mum said so."

"I bet she did." Phoenix laughed, smirking at her mother who was simply shaking her head.

"Stop riling him Phe."

* * *

After breakfast, it took Phoenix no longer than ten minutes to get ready for school. She'd made sure to pack some lunch, a change of clothes, her text books and her sketchbook. Slinging her bag over her shoulder she walked into the living room wearing an old pair of jeans and a black one-sleeved t-shirt.

"Eric hurry up!" She yelled up the stairs, slipping on some shoes, and placing her prized possession, her fedora hat on her head, wanting to leave already. They had a half an hour bike ride, Phoenix having to drop Eric off first. Since her father had to take the car into the city every day for work, they were left to walk. "If you make me late I will take all my Selena Gomez posters back and then stick all my Justin Bieber ones all over your room."

"You wouldn't dare!" He screeched, running down the stairs, his cropped blond hair all greasy.

"Oh yes I would." She replied before frowning. "I thought I told you to have a shower."

"I did!" He protested.

She scoffed, "not very well it seems."

He whacked his bag against her stomach and she growled. "Stop the violence."

"You two have to leave now or you'll _both_ be late for school." Her mother told them, walking into the room. "Eric! You look horrible!" She groaned, running up to him with another shirt fresh out of the laundry. "Here, where this, that one's stained." She told him, helping him to take his shirt off and slipping the other one on.

"Thanks mum." He smiled, hugging the taller woman.

"No problem, have a good day at school." She told him, pulling away.

"See yah mum." Phoenix told her, giving her a kiss on the cheek before walking towards the door. "C'mon Eric, we need to leave now. And get your bike out of the garage." She spoke, opening the door and leaving the house.

Fifty minutes later after dropping Eric off, she'd finally made it to McKinley. She had a pained expression on her face, no doubt from Eric having forced her to walk into the school with him. The boy had insisted on introducing her to his friends. _Friends_, she laughed at the thought. She'd awkwardly said hi to a couple of boys he'd introduced her two and they instantly started flirting with her.

She shivered at the thought, especially when four other boys had joined in. It had taken her ten minutes to escape from then and make a run for her bike. Next time there was no way she was going to go in with him. She was pretty sure she was scarred for life by their lame excuses for what they thought was good pick-up lines.

Hopping off of her bike, she pushed it into the bike rack, twisting her lock around it before heading into the building and past groups of teenagers. The bell was going to ring any minute now and she had to get to the other side of the school first, where her locker was. Picking up her pace she dodged students as she sprinted down the halls, not wanting to be late for class, which would no doubt earn her a detention.

"Hi Phoenix!" A voice called out to her and she briefly looked to the side to see Joe Hart smiling as he waved at her.

"Hey Joe!" She called back, before continuing on.

Joe was a junior and a guy she'd met at a god squad meeting. It's not like she wanted to join the squad or whatever, but her dad had insisted, since he was really religious, unlike herself, since she couldn't be any less. She'd taken after her mother in that department, who was not religious in the slightest.

She quickly dodged a football hurdling towards her and skidded on the floor before coming to a halt in front of her locker. Putting in her combination she flung it open, taking out her books and dumping them on the floor, the bell ringing as she did so. Groaning she zipped open her bag, taking out her books and pencil case before stuffing it in her locker and closing it.

Picking up the books she turned and headed for the other side of the school towards her class.

_Stupid brother and his pervy friends._

* * *

It was lunch and Marley Rose was currently in line at the cafeteria getting some food. She was in a relatively good mood, her day going well so far. But she couldn't help but feel slightly down now that it was lunch, knowing she was going to get some jibes by some jocks about her mum. She didn't care if they constantly teased her or not, but she hated it when they said anything bad about her mother.

They had no right, they knew nothing about her, didn't know what her life was like, so why'd they have to insult someone they didn't even know.

"Hi Marley." A voice said from beside her, and she turned her head to see Tina Cohen-Chang, a member of the schools glee club, like herself.

Marley smiled. "Hi Tina." She said with a slight chirrup. Ever since the glee club had apologised to her about insulting her mother, they'd been nothing but nice to her, something Marley wasn't used to, but welcomed warmly.

Marley noticed Tina was about to say something when someone else spoke, causing the girls to turn and watch as two jocks, Bobby Surette and Phil Lipoff laughed at Marley's mother.

"Is that all I get Jumbo? Why so stingy?" Bobby asked, smirking as he gave his friend a high five.

Marley tightened her grip on her tray before placing it down and taking a step toward them. A hand on her shoulder halted her though and she looked questioningly at Tina who was shaking her head.

"They must let you eat all those leftovers, huh?" Phil piped up, laughing.

Marley looked to her mother who had her head downcast. By now a good majority of the cafeteria had noticed what was going on and were watching, some even laughing along every now and then.

"Quit it, that's my mum." Marley interjected, stepping in front of the much taller boys.

"Whoa, you came outta that?" Phil asked.

Bobby looked at her with a raised eyebrow before smirking. "You know I've been wondering something." He taunted, taking a step forward. "Are you an only child or do you have a twin who's still in there?"

Before Marley could say anything someone else spoke first. "Why don't you idiots leave them alone?"

Marley couldn't help but feel shocked. Had someone just stood up for them? No one ever did that, not even the glee club, except for maybe Sam, but the distinctly feminine voice certainly wasn't his.

"You know, we need a float, why don't we just ride her?" Phil asked, oblivious to the girl.

"Did I stutter?" She asked, stepping in-between Marley and Bobby. "'Cause I thought I told you two losers to leave 'em alone."

The girl was slightly taller than Marley and had her shoulders squared threateningly at the jocks. Though Marley had no idea who she was, she was grateful she was sticking up for them.

"Go on, scram." The girl told them, and Bobby simply shrugged.

"C'mon Phil, let's leave these freaks to themselves." Bobby spoke before turning and heading off to a table with Phil and sat next to Kitty who'd watched the entire exchange, her eyes glued to the mystery girl.

"Thank you for defending me and my mother." Marley spoke shyly, the girl turning around. Marley's breath caught in her throat ever so slightly at her stunning bright blue eyes and sheer beauty.

She smiled kindly. "That's no problem; they have no right to treat either of you that way."

Marley smiled shyly, wringing her hands together.

"I'm Phoenix by the way, what's your name?" She questioned.

Marley couldn't help but think such a beautiful name fitted an equally beautiful girl. "I'm Marley."

"Well it's nice to meet you Marley, I guess I'll see you around sometime." Phoenix replied, her eyes sparkling. With that she said a quick "bye", before heading off into the masses of students.

Marley smiled before turning around, picking up her tray, Tina looking at her curiously. She looked up at her mum, smiling sweetly at her.

Her mother smiled back, placing the foot onto her tray. Ms Rose was more than thrilled someone had stuck up for her daughter. Even though Marley's friends didn't bother sticking up for her, a complete stranger had the courage to. She was beginning grow some faith in this school.

* * *

Katarina Smythe, known as Kitty sat at a table in the cafeteria, the protein shake in hand that Coach Sylvester forced upon the cheerio's, taking a sip every now and then. Most, if not all the students at McKinley, scarce Bobby didn't know her full name. She liked thinking of herself as Madonna, Cher or Rihanna in that sense.

She was currently laughing along with her _friends_. Her smile and laugh were both fake of course though, none of these idiots being able to tell a decent joke or at least say anything funny. And obviously they weren't _really_ her friends. She couldn't care less for any of them, beside Bobby, to be honest.

Her thoughts as she laughed along with everyone else were somewhere else though. She was thinking about the brunette who'd stood up for the girl with the whale of a mother. The brunette was absolutely stunning and Kitty couldn't help but feel drawn to her. And she was certainly brave, standing up to Bobby and Phil like that.

Though she knew Bobby couldn't hurt a fly, no one else did, and everyone feared he'd smack them up if they messed with him, but not her. It was like she didn't give a fuck about who he was. She had to give her come props for that.

Kitty simply shook her head, wondering to herself why she was even thinking about her. She was obviously a loser, since she'd stepped up for one after all.

"Kitty…" A voice spoke and Kitty looked up, her eyes finding Sandra, another cheerio. "Are you even listening?"

"What?" She asked, slightly confused.

"Kit, she asked if you'd thought of a plan to kick Brittany out of head position." Bobby laughed, clearly amused by his friend.

Kitty glared half-heartedly at him before shrugging. "I don't know, but she'll be gone soon enough."

"How can you be so sure?" Bobby replied, clearly trying to test her patience.

"Because I'm better than that whore." She spoke smoothly, staring at Bobby who smirked.

"Better at what exactly?"

The entire table gasped. They'd never seen anyone speak back to Kitty like that.

She levelled him with a solid glare as he simply stared back at her with a raised brow. She simply blew some air out, knowing she could never get mad at her friend. They'd known each other since they were in third grade and knew how to get under each other's skin, even if they knew they couldn't affect each other.

Kitty simply smirked. "Well, I actually know my left from right and can spell my name correctly without having to ask for help. Oh yea and I can dance my way around her any day."

"Amen to that." Bobby replied, bumping her shoulder with his own.

Everyone watched in a stunned silence as she broke out into a genuine smile.

* * *

Marley stood at her locker, taking out her books for history, probably one of her least favourite subjects, but she still had a smile placed firmly on her face. She was still in shock from the beginning of lunch earlier. No one ever stood up for her, not even her supposed friends, despite Sam or sometimes Blaine if they were there.

"Baby whale, did your mother of a whale beach _before_ or _after_ you came flying out?" A voice mocked and Marley looked down, clenching her fists. Why did they have to come after her? "I'm talking to you baby whale, answer before I slushy your ugly arse."

Marley took a deep breath, slowly turning around to come face to face with both Phil and Bobby, Kitty standing next to them with a wicked grin on her face.

"What? Too stupid to understand me?" Phil laughed, the slushy in his hand swirling around, taunting her. If they were going to slushy her, why couldn't they just skip to it and leave out the insults? "Your momma eat your brains too?"

Marley simply furrowed her brows. That was… _disgusting_.

Bobby clearly thought the same, punching Phil in the arm. "That's just gross man." He said shaking his head as Phil simply shrugged.

"Okay, you're boring me now; just slushy her or I'll be late for class." Kitty spoke in an overly sweet voice, bored with it already. She was pretty sure she had algebra with the girl from lunch next.

Marley squeezed her eyes shut as soon as the words fell from Kitty's lips and instantly felt the cold sticky, clumpy beverage impact with her face, burning her skin. She kept her eyes shut for a few seconds and bit her lip, realising it was grape. Damn, she really hated grape, and it was probably the hardest to get out of her clothes.

As she opened her eyes she could hear the laughter resonating throughout the halls, and tears began to prickle at the lids of her eyes. She turned, shoved her books into her locker, took out a clean shirt and slammed it shut before running towards the nearest bathroom.

She ran past the students who were all watching her, laughing at the sight of the poor girl with the lunch lady mum. Opening the door to the girl's bathroom she walked inside, tears already beginning to cascade down her cheeks. She placed her top beside the sink, resting her hands delicately to either side as she looked into the mirror. One of the slushies' had been directly aimed at her face, while the other on her shirt. Luckily it wasn't one she really liked or else she was screwed.

She always wondered why people bullied others. Was it the need to feel power? To fit in? To hide their own insecurities? Or were they just naturally cruel? Marley shook her head, she didn't believe anyone could be truly mean for the sake of it, they had to have a reason, whether it actually made sense or not.

The sound of the door opening broke her out of her thoughts and she turned to watch as Phoenix walked in.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" Phoenix asked before shaking her head. "Okay, stupid question, it's obvious." She said, walking over to her. "It seems they really got you good."

Marley took her hands away from the sink, biting her lip as she looked down slightly. "Yea."

"Here, let me help you." She piped back up, walking over to her.

The bell suddenly rung before Marley could reply. Sighing she spoke back up, "It's okay, you don't want to be late for class."

"It's no worries, I can't stand algebra anyway. The numbers hurt my head." She laughed, smiling at her. "Here, how 'bout you sit in this chair, even though I have no idea what it's doing in a bathroom." Phoenix said, pulling up a chair that'd been carelessly tossed on the floor.

Marley did as she was instructed and looked up at Phoenix as she turned a tap on. Marley traced the outline of her body with her eyes, captivated by her. She'd never met someone who was willing to actually stand up for her or help her. Everyone usually left her behind, not bothered to help pick the pieces, but not her.

"Okay, close your eyes while I clean your face, it hurts like hell if they get in your eyes, I know from experience." Phoenix spoke, and Marley watched as she bent down in front of her, placing a bunch of paper towels next to her on the floor.

"Wait… you've been slushied?" Marley asked, surprised. She couldn't believe anyone could slushy such a beautiful girl.

"Yep, but it didn't end well for the culprit. I may have "accidentally" kneed him in the crotch." She said shrugging. "He got it right in my eyes too and it _still_ hurts." She said. "And we wouldn't want that happening to you."

Marley blushed before closing her eyes. The first thing she felt was the soft dabbing of the paper against her skin, careful not to scratch her. She could feel Phoenix's fingers gently brush against her chin, wiping off the sticky substance.

Nearly ten minutes later and Phoenix had finally gotten the slushy remnants off of Marley's face and out of her hair. "There we go." Phoenix said, picking up all the paper towels covered in slushy and dumping them in the bin.

Marley watched as she did so. "Thank-you so much for the help." She smiled, standing up and pushing the chair to the side. "Now I just have to change my shirt." She said, looking down at the state of her current one. There was a large chunk of slushy clumped on her chest, and it had dripped down.

Phoenix picked up her shirt and handed it to Marley.

Marley quickly took off her shirt, almost gagging as she pulled it over her head before putting the clean one on. It'd take her days to wash that out.

"Well, I better be going before my teacher bites my head off." She heard Phoenix say, and looked up to see the girl leaning against the sink before pushing herself off.

"Me too." Marley said, looking to her watch, realising they'd missed about 15 minutes of the lesson. "Again, thank you so much for helping me."

"It's no problem." Phoenix replied, walking to the door and opening it, holding it for Marley who was quick to walk out. "So what do you have?"

"History." She answered, walking with her towards her locker.

"Well have fun; I have to get my books from my locker." Phoenix said, walking backwards when Marley reached her own locker.

"Bye." Marley called out as Phoenix turned the corner, and she heard her yell it back.

Marley smiled, opening her locker and taking out her books. Maybe this school wasn't so bad after all.

* * *

Kitty sat in algebra, twirling her pen around, a frown firmly planted on her face. She'd been sure she had this class with the girl from lunch. She vaguely remembered her sitting at the desk in front of her that was currently empty. _Maybe she's late_; she wondered to herself, looking to her watch to see it was 20 minutes into the lesson. Who was 20 minutes late to class?

Her thoughts were cut off though when the sound of the door opening caught the entire classes' attention and in walked the girl, going to the teacher with a late slip. _YES!_ She internally cheered… _wait… I don't care if she's here or not…_ She thought to herself, crossing her arms.

She watched as the girl took the seat in front of her, confirming her suspicions that she was the one who always there. Kitty wondered to herself what she was like. From what she could tell, she already knew she was willing to stick up for people and was brave. For some reason though, she had a strange feeling she wanted to know more about her.

Kitty pushed these thoughts aside though, mentally kicking herself for being an idiot. She didn't care about this… this… _loser_, _freak_. She scowled, she was thinking too far into this, she just needed to cool down and relax before she got a migraine.

* * *

"Hey mum!" Marley greeted, bouncing happily into the school's kitchen, a massive smile on her face. Despite the fact that she'd been slushied and insulted today, she was pretty sure she'd made a new friend.

"Hi pumpkin, what's got you in such a happy mood?" Her mother, Trisha asked with a smile as she cleaned the dishes. She loved seeing her daughter happy; it always brightened up her own day.

"You know that girl who defended us at lunch?"

Her mother nodded.

"Well, after I was slushied earlier she helped me get cleaned up. I just can't believe someone's actually helping me, no one does that." Marley spoke, smiling happily as she jumped up and sat on the bench.

Trisha looked up at her daughter who had a content look on her face. She honestly hadn't seen her so happy in a while, it was amazing. Her daughter had smile that could bright up a room, and it was nice to see her finally using it again. "This girl seems like she's really nice. It's good to hear that you have some to help you. You're a shining star and whenever you're down it's like the world is being robbed of such a beautiful light."

Marley blushed, "thanks mum."

"What's this mystery girl's name anyway?"

"Phoenix." Marley replied.

"Wow, such a unique and beautiful name." Trisha spoke, nodding her head as she let the water drain as she pulled the plug out from the sink.

"Yea, it is."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **So this is the second chapter after just over a months wait. I'm not the most avid updater, but this story is definitely being continued with, so don't worry. It was just a bit hard to get into a state of writing this chapter. At the moment a lot of this is just the setting up of each character and making way for some story-lines I already have in mind. Most chapters from now on will be from 2,500 to 5,000 words, depending on whether I feel a chapter requires more than others.

Remember to tell me what you think! Reviews are what fuel me, and one in particular was the reason I decided to get down and actually get this chapter done.

Also a note to an anon, no, this isn't a Mitty fic.

Pairings: Marley/OC, Kitty/OC, etc.

Word Count: 2, 754

Rating: T (Will change to an M as the story progresses)

**Chapter 2**

Kitty waved goodbye to Bobby as he drove out of the driveway. He actually had his license considering he was currently a junior, unlike Kitty who was only a freshman. That meant that she got a ride home from cheerleading practice as Bobby would finish football around the same time.

It was Wednesday afternoon, and it was currently 6pm, the practice running half an hour longer than the usual two hours, Coach Sylvester having been in a foul mood today, her daughter Robyn apparently having kept her up all night with her crying.

Though Kitty didn't know how someone so old could even _have_ a baby, she'd never dare tell her that, or she'd probably murder her in her sleep. _"I'm a proud 32."_ She'd told them today, two years younger than what she'd said the week prior. Her age tended to get younger or older depending on her mood, even though she looked like she was 60 or something.

She groaned, her muscles tensing as she lifted her cheerio's bag over her shoulder before trudging grumpily towards her average sized, two storey house. Using her free hand she pushed opened the slightly ajar door, kicked her shoes off and to the side before slamming it shut, signalling she was home.

"Katarina!" Her mother scolded loudly.

Looking up, Kitty glared at her mother who'd walked up to her, her baking mitts on from making dinner. She _hated_ it when she used her full name.

"Why're home so late? I was worried sick about you!" Her mother over exaggerated, looking her over, making sure she wasn't hurt in any way.

"Sorry mum, coach kept us back." She replied, trying to wriggle her way out of her mother's grasp as she dropped her bag to the floor.

"Well young lady your dinner is on the table, I just heated it up." Susanna, her mother told her before letting go of her face. "Have your food first before taking a shower, as I'm not heating it up again."

Kitty nodded, rolling her eyes as she walked into the dining room, stretching her muscles. She paused as soon as she entered the room though, staring at the person sitting on the opposite side of the table, a shit eating grin on his meerkat like face.

"Hello Katarina." Sebastian Smythe, her older brother smirked, leaning back in his chair.

"What're _you_ doing here?" She hissed, walking angrily towards him. He was supposed to still be at Dalton for his senior year. What was he doing here?

He mock gasped, placing a hand over his heart. "It hurts to be greeted in such a manner baby sister."

"Mum!" She screamed, filled with rage.

The sound of feet slapping against the wooden floors echoed throughout the house as her mother ran into the room, looking around frantically. "Kitty? What's wrong sweetie?"

"What is _he_ doing here?" She spoke coldly, staring daggers at him as he smiled innocently.

Her mother frowned, clearly not impressed. "That's why you scared the living daylights out of me? I thought you two were being held hostage by murderers."

"Seriously?" Kitty retorted. Her mother really had some serious issues.

"You should be happy to see your brother young lady. Did you know he was recently noticed by a lacrosse scout? He also got the lead in his schools musical. Congratulate him for such a feat or no dinner for you. I'm disappointed that would hold such distaste to his visit." Her mother reprimanded, staring pointedly at Kitty.

Kitty bit back an angry growl as she looked between her mother and the bane of her existence. "I'm sorry Sebastian." She spoke half-heartedly, trying to control the urge to punch his stupid little face.

"That's more like it baby sister." Sebastian grinned, standing up and moving around the table. "I really have missed you."

Kitty looked on in horror as he advanced, his arms outstretched, almost like was going to-

"No way!" She yelled, her eyes widening in panic, running around the table. "Don't you dare come any closer!"

"Katarina!"

* * *

An hour later Kitty laid in her bed after having to endure half an hour of Sebastian going on _and on __**and on**_ about how great he was, and her mother praising him. It was like he was some sort of God. He was perfect in her parents eyes and she was just… nothing. They didn't care that she'd made it onto the cheerio's, had skyrocketed in popularity or was a shoo-in for head cheerio next year. All they cared about was _him_.

It was so frustrating; she couldn't believe he was here. Apparently he had a week away from Dalton because they were refurnishing everything. Argh! She hated him so much! Why'd he have to walk in, bat his eyelashes and they'd flock to him.

"_Did you hear sweetie, your brothers the captain of the Warblers now."_ Her mother had told her last year, praising him. She only just held herself back from screaming that she'd gotten the lead in her schools play, which her mother had previously said, _"Good job Kitty. Sebastian and the Warblers won Sectionals."_ Always fucking Sebastian and what he did… they didn't give two fucks about her and her achievements.

Groaning loudly she crossed her arms, spun around in her bed and screamed into the pillows.

* * *

Marley sat in her mother's car. It was an old Toyota, one of the many things her father left behind after he suddenly sprung a divorce on her mother, packed a suitcase one night and left the both of them out in the cold. She'd only been six at the time, and had naturally blamed herself for a long time. She'd thought she'd done something wrong, made her father disappointed in her that he couldn't even bare the sight of her.

Her mother hadn't let her think that way for very long, instantly telling Marley it wasn't her fault, and though she didn't know why he left them, she knew he loved her very much. It was hard for Marley to believe. His only goodbye to her was a peck on the forehead while she was in bed. When she'd woken up she'd run to catch up with him. He didn't even say anything when she clung herself to his leg. Nothing. He just picked her up and off him and left. Nothing more, nothing less.

Sniffling, she realised she had tears in her eyes, causing her mother to look over at her briefly from the road. "Mars? What's wrong, pumpkin?"

Marley simply let out a deep breath before wiping furiously at her eyes. "Nothing, mum… just… thinking."

"About what?"

She didn't respond; simply bit her lip as she wrung her hands in her lap.

"Don't worry; I won't push for answers, pumpkin. But always remember, you can talk to me about anything, okay?" Trisha spoke, not wanting to pressure her daughter. She'd tell her when she was ready, no use rushing her.

"Yea, I know mum." Marley smiled, still wiping at her slightly puffy eyes. Her attention soon shifted back to the road, watching as they pulled into the McKinley High faculty car park. Okay, it wasn't really the "faculty" park exactly, more like a section that the staff tended to park as it was the furthest away from most of the students.

After people discovered her mother was the lunch lady, Marley had insisted on ditching the idea of her getting out early so not to be seen with her. Honestly, she was proud she was her mother. She didn't care what they thought.

As her mum parked the car, Marley reached into the back, grabbing her bag from the seat.

Pulling back she opened the door and stepped out, looking to her mother who was standing on the opposite side as she closed the door. Marley did the same and smiled at her mother before walking around and giving her a hug. "See you after school, mum." She spoke, pulling back after a few seconds.

"Have a good day." Trisha replied, waving as Marley walked away backwards. "Oh, and have fun at your glee club meeting!" She called out as Marley turned and headed towards the main entrance.

"Thanks mum! Love you!" Marley called back.

* * *

Phoenix exited the classroom, having just had yet _another_ God bothers' meet-… err, _God Squad_ meeting before school. Why did her father have to drag her into his religion? It's not like she didn't believe there was a God, anything was possible after all, but still, it's not something that she found fun. They all seemed to know the whole damn bible off by heart too, which, admittedly, was really starting to creep her out.

Though they all were nice enough… except for that weird kid, Brett. She wasn't even sure why he was there. Sam was a sweet guy, along with Joe…

"Phoenix, wait up!"

Speaking of which…

"Hey, Joe." Phoenix greeted him, spinning around to see the boy with dreadlocks coming to a stop in front of her.

"Did you enjoy the meeting?" He questioned a friendly smile on his face. "I think it was really enlightening. God gives us such blessings and it's always amazing to thank him for this."

Phoenix nodded slowly. She never understood people's deep belief in religion, but she guessed faith can be a powerful thing. "Yea, it was good I guess. I'm not really all that religious, well, nowhere near as all of you are that is."

"Oh, you aren't?" He questioned, looking like a wounded puppy.

She internally cursed at herself, _now look what you've done you big idiot. He looks like you've just castrated him!_ – _That's just nasty_. "Well, I still believe in God." She offered, wanting a smile back on his face.

He brightened up slightly, shouldering his bag. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to sit together at lunch." He spoke quickly, almost that she didn't hear what he said. He looked at her nervously and Phoenix wasn't sure what to do.

He was looking down, almost like he thought she was going to say no. Internally sighing she replied, "Sure." She didn't really have any friends yet, considering she was a freshman, so this would probably be good for her. She could tell her mum she made a friend. _Yay!_ Her mum was always on her case to make friends, despite how anti-social her mother actually was.

Joe's head instantly shot up in surprise. "Really?" He questioned his face lighting up into a bright smile.

"Yea. Meet at the entrance?"

"Yea, yea, that's perfect!" He replied.

"I have to get my books, so I'll see you there." Phoenix spoke as she moved around him, giving a slight wave before making her way to her locker. Taking out her mp3 player and earphones, she put the buds in her ear as she searched through her albums and stopped on the _The Pretty Reckless_ folder.

Nodding her head to the rock music, she clipped the player to her jeans as she made her way passed other students.

Five minutes later and she found herself turning a corner to her locker, but as she rounded it, she felt herself being rushed into by someone. Tumbling back she landed on the floor hard, closing her eyes on the impact, the person landing smack bang on top of her. Groaning she lazily opened her eyes, looking up a cheerio.

The cheerio instantly jumped up awkwardly before picking up her textbooks. _Thanks for the help…_ Phoenix thought to herself as she knelt down, helping with the books as she stuffed her earphones into her pocket. After grabbing a few, she stood up and held them out for the girl who once fully risen snatched them back.

"Watch where you're going!" The girl growled, but lacked the intimidation she was going for. First off, she was _tiny_. And Phoenix was quite tall. She looked like a little pit-bull who was all bark and no bite.

"You do realise _you_ were the one who ran into _me_, right?" Phoenix questioned, raising a brow in amusement. This girl was a card.

Phoenix was given an icy glare, resulting in a smirk to break out on her face. She actually looked kind of adorable. "Just stay out of my way freshman!"

"You're a freshman too, girl who sits behind me in algebra… _unless_ you were held back a year."

* * *

Kitty unconsciously growled. How _dare_ she?! She had _no_ right to talk to her in that way! Kitty was the freakin' HBIC! No one dared look her in the eye. But _her_, she was talking back to her, a shit-eating grin on her face. Fisting her hands, she gave her a death glare, which the girl pointedly avoided. But it didn't seem like it was out of fear, more at the un-comfortableness at eye contact.

"Listen here girly, if you don't back off I'll make your life a living hell." Kitty spoke lowly. She didn't know what it was about this girl, but she just made her blood boil.

Around them, a crowd was starting to gather, reminding Kitty that they had an audience. Calming herself down, she relaxed her shoulders slightly, trying not to show that she wasn't getting to her. No signs of weakness.

"You're making threats just because I tell you the truth?" The girl laughed, clearly amused.

_Argh! What is wrong with her?! Just shut the fuck up! It's making me want to __kiss__- punch her in the face!_

Despite screaming on the inside, Kitty remained neutral on the outside. She knew how to keep the façade going, and instead of clawing at this girl (who had some nerve alright); she simply jutted her chin out and clucked her tongue. "You've been warned."

With that she spun on her heel and strutted away, pushing those in her way to the side.

No one challenged Kitty Smythe and got away with it… _no one_.

* * *

It was lunch, and Marley sat at the top of the bleachers, looking out and onto the field, thinking. So far, McKinley was nothing like she'd hoped it'd be. She'd hoped she be free. Free from tormentors who made it their life mission to torture her. Free from ridicule. She was starting anew… no one had known her, she had a clean slate.

But she'd gone and ruined it. Of course she had. She always seemed to stuff everything up. She was a magnet to bullies, a magnet to trouble, and a magnet to just… everything bad!

"Marley?"

Marley's head jerked up in surprise at the voice, seeing Jake Puckerman standing a few rows down, a guitar strapped around his shoulders. He gave her a charming smile and Marley couldn't help but melt a little under his gaze.

"H-hi Ja-Jake…" She stuttered out, mentally kicking herself. She couldn't help it though. He was incredibly good-looking and the way he spoke made her melt inside. She didn't necessarily have a crush on him, but was powerless to his charm like many of the other girls at McKinley.

She watched as he took a seat next to her, his intense gaze making Marley bite her lip as she looked down, unsure on why he was even talking to her.

"I just want…"

Marley looked up at his words, but as soon as she did, her eyes zeroed in across the field and to the bleachers on the other side. She forgot he was talking as she spotted a tall dark haired figure sat on the top row, and Marley couldn't help but recognise her as being Phoenix, a few seconds later. She was sitting, leant back against the side, laughing at something the person next to her said.

_Wait… who's that? _She thought to herself as she looked to a boy next to Phoenix. It didn't take her long to recognise the dreadlocked boy from glee, whose name had slipped her memory. She furrowed her brow at the two… _I didn't know they were friends_.

"So, yea… Marley?"

Marley's head snapped up from where she was silently watching the two, and her eyes caught with Jake who had his eyebrows raised. "Yea?" She asked nervously, feeling awful for having zoned out while he spoke.

"I asked if you wanted to hang out sometime." He replied, smiling.

"Um…" She bit her lip, taken aback by the offer. "Y-yea… sure." She replied, still unable to comprehend what had just happen.

_Wait… did Jake Puckerman just ask me out?_


End file.
